University of Louisville Plant

The University of Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky, has a plant with two coal-fired boilers permitted to burn up to 10,000 tons of coal a year. From 2003 to 2008, the University recycled 4,210,680 pounds of coal ash.

In June 2010, the University of Louisville (U of L) said it will phase out burning coal on its Belknap Campus, pushed along by tighter air quality regulations on soot and a university effort to increase energy efficiency. Continuing to use coal for its burners would require construction of an $8 million bag house, a pollution control device that would collect particulate matter in a 50-foot tall building, which U of L's vice president for business affairs Larry Owsley said was "impractical". U of L and the air district board are scheduled to sign the agreement on June 15, 2010, which also calls for phasing out coal burning on campus by the end of 2015. The coal burning boiler is 32 years old, and the plan calls for it to be replaced by a natural gas boiler.

Related SourceWatch articles

 * Campus coal plants
 * Existing U.S. Coal Plants
 * Opposition to existing coal plants
 * Coal
 * Coal and jobs
 * Coal-fired power plant capacity and generation
 * Coal phase-out
 * Coal plant conversion projects
 * Coal plants near residential areas

External resources

 * Anne C. Mulkern, "Colleges Are Battlegrounds for Coal Fight," Greenwire, October 14, 2009.
 * Campuses Beyond Coal Campaign, Sierra Club, September 2009.
 * "DOE Announces Winners of Annual University Coal Research Grants," July 7, 2005.
 * American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment